Acting Mayor Kim Janey arrives at Boston City Hall Tuesday, March 23, 2021, becoming the first woman and person of color to serve in the office. Photo by Chris Van Buskirk | State House News Service
Acting Mayor Kim Janey arrived at Boston City Hall on Tuesday morning for her first full day as the city’s executive, in what former Mayor Marty Walsh called a “smooth transition” between administrations.
“For the past two months I’ve had regular meetings and conversations with the council president, we’ve held extensive planning sessions, every department has been engaged in this process and is taking proactive steps to ensure the continuity of services and operations in the city of Boston,” Walsh said at a Monday night farewell news conference. “We have briefed and engaged our external partners, including members of the business community, colleges, university, nonprofits, community groups in the neighborhoods.”
Janey became acting mayor Monday night, after Walsh resigned following his confirmation by the U.S. Senate as federal labor secretary. Walsh left for Washington Tuesday morning.
Wrote Janey, in a Boston Globe op-ed published online the minute Walsh resigned: “Today is a new day. We are making history. I am being sworn in as the first woman and first Black mayor of Boston in the city that I love. I come to this day with life experiences different from the men who came before me.”
In her column, the new acting mayor promised “a citywide agenda of recovery, reopening, and renewal,” and highlighted city contract reform and policing reform among the areas she wants to focus, in addition to the city’s yawning racial wealth gap. Janey promised to “call out this gap and implement workforce, housing, and education policies to address it” but did not offer specifics.
With less than a year until the next mayoral election, it’s not clear whether Janey would be able to enact significant changes to city development policy in line with those stated aspirations. Under the city charter, acting mayors have less power than elected mayors, including being barred from making “permanent appointments,” but Janey has signaled she doesn’t intend to be a lame-duck leader.
Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Kimberly Budd, who made history as the first Black woman to lead the state’s highest court, is scheduled to administer Janey’s ceremonial oath of office at 11:45 a.m. Wednesday on the third-floor mezzanine of City Hall. Janey and Budd will be joined by Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley.
The regularly scheduled fall mayoral election has already drawn a number of candidates including city economic development chief John Barros, Rep. Jon Santiago, and Boston City Councilors Annissa Essaibi George, Andrea Campbell, and Michelle Wu. Sen. Nick Collins has reportedly been considering entering the race and has not shot down the idea when asked.
Candidates have until May 18 to file nomination papers with the Boston Election Department and registrars must complete signature certifications by June 22. The preliminary election is Sept. 1 and the municipal election is Nov. 2.
